Newsletters

We believe that our children should have the aspiration and opportunity to ‘Live life in all its fullness’ and ‘Shine like stars in the sky’.

ARBOR
Thank you for your patience as we migrated our school management systems over to Arbor. The transition is now complete, and we are currently ironing out the final few technical hitches.
Please take note of the following important updates regarding your payments and upcoming trips:

Arbor Payments & Balance Adjustments

• Manual Bookings: If you booked school lunches or wrap-around care through the school office (rather than the app) last week or on Monday and Tuesday of this week, these charges will be added to your account shortly.
• Action Required: Please keep an eye on your account. These bookings will deduct from your balance, so your account may require a top-up to keep it in credit.

ParentPay Transition

• Final Balances: Any remaining credit balances or outstanding debts currently on ParentPay will be safely transferred over to Arbor next week.

Year 5/6 London Trip

• Payment Platform: Please note that payments for the London Trip must still be made via ParentPay, not Arbor.
• New Parents: Further information on how to book and secure a place for children new to the school will be shared next week.
• Existing Bookings: A friendly reminder to other parents that the £100 deposit was due by the start of September to secure your child's place.
• Important Notice: Please note that if this deposit has not been paid by Monday, your child’s place will unfortunately be withdrawn.

Thank you again for your continued support and understanding during this transit
 
 
Spotlights for learning…
 
In Rockets, we have spent lots of time exploring numbers. Our EYFS children have been learning all about the numbers one, two and three. Keep your eyes peeled for these numbers over the weekend. I wonder where you might spot them? Year One have also started investigating the hundred square to help us think about our numbers to 100. Why not practise counting over the weekend? You could count steps on a walk, cars on a journey or even count down until dinner is ready!
In PE, we have been playing games such as ‘Mountains and Valleys’ and ‘Avoid the Hyenas’. We have explored some different ways we can move our bodies, travel into spaces and turn in different directions.
 
In Comets, we have been exploring two events from the 1600s to prepare for our English unit.  The children already have a wealth of knowledge about The Great Fire of London from their History work.  This week we went even further back in time, initially trying to work out what this artefact might have been used for: We now know that it was used by Guy Fawkes as part of the Gunpowder Plot.  I wonder how many facts you can tell your grown-ups about what happened back in 1605?
In Maths we have been focusing on adding three addends and the children have made up some super ‘First…Then…Then…Now’ stories.  Perhaps you could write or draw another one at home?
 
In Asteroid Class this week, we have had another busy week.  I was particularly impressed by the children's team work in PE where we worked on agility and co-ordination.  Can you please ensure children are able to remove their own earrings, if they have ears pierced, as they will not be able to participate in PE wearing earrings?   I have also been overjoyed to see how well our children demonstrate our school values, Love, Patience, Peace and Kindness, and a number of children have moved onto the recognition board this week.  Science involved a tour of the school looking for electrical appliances, both mains and battery operated, along with some that work on both mains and battery.  We sorted objects into these electrical appliance groups as well as objects that operate without the use of electrical energy.  I wonder whether children could do an electrical appliance hunt around the home and work out whether they use mains, battery or both.  In maths next week, we will continue our work on decimals with tenths and column addition and subtraction.  We will be starting our reading groups next week.  
 
 
Don’t forget that you can also check out the class pages on the school website for information about learning coming up later in the term.
 
 
Reminders…
FIDGET TOYS
You may remember that, back in the summer term, we alerted you to a worrying new viral trend relating to ‘squishies’ and sent several reminders about our use of ‘fidget toys’ in school.
Some children with sensory needs have various fidget toys, etc as part of their provision.  When such items are part of a child’s provision as agreed with parents, we teach the child to use them discreetly and safely in a manner that does not disrupt the learning of others.
On occasions, when sensory resources brought in from home become a hazard or distract the child or their peers from their learning (eg due to their size, quantity or misuse), they are removed and replaced with something more appropriate following an explanation of why this is necessary.  This week, Mrs Taylor has spoken to the children to remind them about this.  Any fidget toys deemed necessary will be provided by school in discussion with parents of specific children.
 
OUTDOOR PLAY EQUIPMENT
We have reminded the children that they must not use the outdoor play equipment once they have been dismissed into the care of parents and carers at the end of the day. Thank you for your support with this.
 
READING BOOKS
Many thanks to those who have returned school reading books that have turned up over the summer holidays.  Please can any remaining reading books be returned to school so that we have full sets ready for the term ahead.
 
Coming up…
READING MEETING
Mrs Pawson along with Miss Pawson will be holding a meeting for Reception and Year One parents about how reading is taught in school and ways to help your child with reading at home on Monday 21st September at 3.45pm at Kirkby Malzeard School and at St Nicholas School at 5 pm.  You are welcome to attend either meeting.
 
FOREST SCHOOL
This term’s Forest School sessions will take place on Wednesday afternoons, alternating between Asteroid and Rocket classes.  The next session will be for Rockets (including Y2) next Wednesday (23rd).  Children should bring their Forest School kit in a bag to get changed when it is time for their session.  Please see below for a suggested kit list, helpfully provided by Madeleine and Helen:
Kit list
 
News from the wider community NEWS FROM THE BENEFICE
Please see below for all the latest from the parishes in our community:

  -Pew News wc 2092026.pdf-  

A MESSAGE FROM THIRSK HIGH SCHOOL
 We will be holding our Open Evening for future parents and students on Thursday 8th October 2026 between 5pm and 8pm. Please see the attached letter for parents of the students presently in year 6. The evening will begin at 5pm, and parents are asked to park in the bus park and enter the School via the Sixth Form Common Room. There will be an opportunity to view the school, and attend a talk in the hall at 6.30pm. During the evening parents and students will be able to learn about the school, meet the teaching staff, take part in activities and look around the different departments. In addition to this, we will be running two Open Mornings on 12th and 19th October, 9.30am 11.00am. These mornings are for parents to meet the Headteacher, and will provide an opportunity to view the school during an ordinary working day. Places for these mornings are limited and must be booked in advance. In order to reserve a place, parents are asked to email hannah.winder@thirskschool.org. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

  -THIRSK PPE Letter to parents 2026.pdf-  
 
Safeguarding, Health and Wellbeing Updates
Allergens in school, lunches and snacks
To meet the requirements of Benedict’s Law, all school staff have undergone additional training in Allergy Safety and Anaphylaxis. For more information, please see below:
Benedict's Law - Benedict Blythe Foundation

Just a reminder we have the following allergens in school (where there is risk of anaphylaxis) and ask that these are not sent in in lunch boxes:
Nuts, sesame, rabbit meat, shellfish, including prawns.

Also, please can all small fruit (grapes, strawberries etc) be chopped up into quarters to minimise the risk of choking.